Columbia, Mo.,??/strong>On Thursday, August 10, FFA and 4-H members participated in the 2017 Youth Swine Skillathon at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. Participants competed in three age brackets during the contest, which is sponsored by the Missouri Pork Association and the University of Missouri Extension.

In the Age 12 and Under division, first place went to Mason Forkner from Richards. Carly Henderson from Wellsville placed second, and Clayton Jennings from Columbia received third.

In the Age 13-15 division, Anderson Rogers from Princeton received first, Tate Welch from Sheridan received second, and third place went to Kaleigh Byram from Sheldon.

In the Age 16 and Older division, Cole Schlup from Washburn received first. Marlena Long from Paris received second and third place went to Cara Comstock from Deerfield.

The top three winners in each category received a cash award, and the top individual in each category also received a plaque.

The first part of the three-stage contest is a hands-on swine management test including breed identification, equipment identification, ear notching, feed medication withdrawal, calculation growth performance, pork carcass cuts, meat quality evaluation, environmental issues and feed ingredient identification. The second section is a short quiz that covers current events and general information about the swine industry in Missouri, the United States and internationally. The final stage is a 5 minute personal interview about their swine project and the Youth Pork Quality Assurance Plus Program.

The Missouri Pork Association represents the state?셲 pork producers in the areas of promotion, research, education and legislation. For more information about this or any other programs of the Missouri Pork Association, go to www.mopork.com, or call (573) 445-8375.